“Experts have predicted further impoverishment of Russians”

01.03.2016

The number of poor in our country increased by 3 million, from 16 million to 19 million people. Such data was announced by labor Minister Maxim Topilin. Worst of all, according to him, the situation of families with children, because poverty is calculated as the ratio of income per family member and wage. Today, this threshold is set at 9673 rubles per person. Another paradox: the bulk of the poor, apparently, is made up of working citizens. According to calculations of the Ministry of labour the official unemployment rate this year will not exceed 6%.

photo: Gennady Cherkasov

The office is not much concerned about such data. The situation at the beginning of February in Russia was registered just over a million unemployed. Then Maxim Topilin said that the current recession differs from previous ones by the fact that in the labour market there is a stable situation. For comparison, in 2009-2010 in looking for a job about 2 million people.

Falling wages, how to calculate the labour Ministry, also should not be critical. Purses of our countrymen, according to the forecasts of the official, “lose weight” is not more than 3-4%. So far, however, we clearly do not fit into these figures. According to Rosstat, in January 2016, the average monthly wage was equal 32122 rubles. This is 26% below the figure for December 2015. What is the relationship between all these facts, “MK” asked the experts.

“Oddly enough, our surveys show similar percentages of poor and unemployed. That is, the first rising and the second is not. An explanation for this. In this period of economic crisis, employers prefer not to go the way of dismissal of employees and are looking for additional ways to reduce the cost of their salary. For example, send people on unpaid leave, reduce work week,” says head of the laboratory of research for social development Institute for social analysis and prediction Ranepa Elena Avraamova. Very often, according to her, this practice is in small towns. Administration local businesses are afraid to lose qualified staff, so go to subterfuge with a salary. At the same time, there is a counter desire of employees to keep their workplace – with an uncertain economy people agree on any restrictions.

Executive Director of Consulting company Heads Nikita Kulikov agree that many of those who today lost their income, formally retained the workplace: only one sitting at home and waiting for the call from the authorities, others continue to work at reduced salary. “The figures for unemployment, which leads Topilin is the average temperature in the hospital. The Minister is focused, including on labour exchange, but, as a rule, the units reach. Real unemployment is likely twice the statistics – it is at least 10-12%,” says Kulikov.

The experts confirmed that there is a sharp decrease in wages. For example, according to Elena Abraham, in the beginning of 2015 to the fall in their income was complaining about only 14% of the population, now there are already 24%. “There is no reason to hope that hard times pass quickly. More recently, citizens were saying that the crisis will end in a year or two. Now most are configured in a prolonged “black” stripe” – she concluded.